The Reading Incident
by Sano
Summary: It's been raining for the past week and everyone's bored, except Hakkai that is, he's been reading all the time and seems to forget everything else. So Sanzo's going to step in and make sure that Hakkai pays attention. 38, for the '38 Incidents' project.


Title: The Reading Incident

By: Sano

Series: Saiyuki

Pairings: 383

Warnings: Yaoi and some OOC-ness

Disclaimers: Saiyuki is the product of the amazing Kazuya Minekura-sama. Hey, if I owned these boys I'd get Hakkai and Sanzo to do what any yaoi fan wants them to do.

Note: Written for the '38 Incidents' Project. Yare, yare desu ne… I've been working on this for two weeks… just had to finish it before school starts again. Ch' stupid summer flying by too fast!

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The Reading Incident

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The rain continued to pound against the windows infuriatingly as it did for the past week. And for the past week tempers were running high because of their being stuck inside the inn, which wasn't good for Sanzo, who was itching to take out his gun and shoot something, but unfortunately he had no bullets left from shooting at Gojyo and Goku the night before. He would have bought some but he didn't want to get wet in the stupid storm, so he was forced to wait until the rain got lighter.

Grunting curses under his breath, he took out his nth cigarette for the day. The stupider side of his companions were smart enough not to bother him yet, or else he would've strangled them or beaten them to death.

Gojyo was vainly trying to teach Goku how to play poker, but the little monkey found the rules confusing and always had the wrong combinations. Hakkai was sitting on his narrow bed, a mountain of pillows supporting him as he balanced a book on his knees.

Sanzo noticed that reading was the only thing that Hakkai had been doing all week. It was a different book today, a bit old with the leather-bound cover a bit frayed at the edges; the letters on the front were hard to make out.

"Ne, Hakkai…I'm hungry!" Goku suddenly piped up, looking down at his growling stomach. He stared at the older youkai… usually Hakkai would already be fetching some food for him, but the youkai wasn't moving, his eyes still trained on the book before him.

"Hakkai?" He spoke again, but still the aforementioned man didn't even show any sign that he heard him. He opened his mouth again to give a louder call when Gojyo walked up to them and ruffled Hakkai's hair.

Hakkai blinked for a moment in surprise and looked up at them. "Anou… did you want anything?" He looked confused, as if he didn't even know that they were there.

"Ch' you've been so hung up on those books that you couldn't even hear the baka saru's stomach, and that could be heard a hundred kilometers away!" Gojyo explained matter-of-factly.

"Teme!" Goku shouted. And as usual, Gojyo came back with an insult until the both of them were brawling on the floor, but stopping when Hakkai called them for the meat buns they purchased last night.

Sanzo watched the scene with a mix of boredom and annoyance. For the past week it was always like this, Hakkai would be off in another planet with his books and the two idiots were the ones to try to get the brunette youkai back to level ground. The brunette youkai was ignoring everything just because of a damn book.

Sanzo was beginning to feel a little hurt, though he would hang himself first before admitting so.

The day continued with more of Hakkai's absorption, arguing, and some beating with Sanzo's Harisen, until Goku's whining finally got too annoying that they stepped out to have dinner in a restaurant since the rain had gotten easier to deal with.

Goku was watching in fascination at Hakkai, who was holding a book on his right hand and an umbrella on the other while they walked, all the while avoiding every rock or person they came across with. Hakuryu was settled on his shoulder, the dragon's beady red eyes trained on the letters on the book.

Sanzo watched Hakkai from the corner of his eye, muttering curses on every author that ever lived. He knew he shouldn't be feeling this way about his companion, but by some bizarre twist of fate the converted human had wormed his way into his heart with his unrelenting charm. Not that he complained of course, anyone would be stupid not to notice the youkai's enthralling demeanor.

They finally arrived at the newly opened Chinese restaurant. They were seated, Goku ordered food that was enough to feed a portion of a poor country, Gojyo teased him until they fought, Sanzo fired at them and wore out his Harisen, they ate, Sanzo brandished his gold card for the bill and they trotted back to the inn…and still Hakkai had his nose buried in a book.

When they got back to Sanzo and Hakkai's room, Goku had managed to persuade Sanzo in joining them for a game of Poker. The golden-eyed saru asked Hakkai to join them but he denied, saying that he wanted to finish reading… not to everyone's surprise.

Somewhere along the night, Gojyo had taken out enormous amounts of sake. For which Sanzo was grateful [In his head, anyway], and instantly began drinking. Gojyo had tried to engage Hakkai in their drinking but the brunette had politely declined and had gone back to his damned reading.

Sanzo had worn out his Harisen over Gojyo and Goku's head countless times before, but now he wanted to hit Hakkai too. The anger and frustration that he felt at the moment triggered his sake-filled mind and he stood up.

"Hakkai, put down that book."

Hakkai looked up, an astonished look on his face. Gojyo seemed amused by the situation and lit a new cigarette. The brunette cocked an eyebrow at Sanzo. "What are-"

"I said put the stupid book down." Sanzo spoke with such steely anger that Goku flinched and placed a hand on the monk's shoulder. "Ne, Sanzo… why don't-" He began. Sanzo turned his blazing amethysts on Goku, making the little saru back away from him.

The monk took out his newly reloaded gun and pointed it at Gojyo. "You, get out, and take the baka saru with you." He commanded scathingly. The redhead smirked and puffed out a chain of smoke.

"And leave Hakkai with you?" Two shots followed Gojyo's statement and soon Sanzo and Hakkai were alone in the room, with Gojyo warning Hakkai to shout if anything happened.

Sanzo had seen Hakkai mad only once before, but this was the first time that he had seen Hakkai's eyes looking at him as if he were a piece of lint that he would like to get rid of. Tossing his unruly hair out of eyes, Hakkai crossed his arms over his chest; the leather-bound book nestled comfortably in his arms. "So, Sanzo, does my reading annoy you?"

He was crazy, he was sure of it. Because Sanzo knew better than to cross Hakkai, and getting the brunette annoyed wasn't the smartest thing to do. All the anger and courage he felt earlier disappeared and was replaced with uneasiness, he directed his gaze downward, staring at the tips of his black-socked feet.

"Does it?"

"…"

"Do I annoy you, Sanzo-sama?" The use of the honorific coming from Hakkai's lips almost made Sanzo smile, just a little quirk of the corner of his mouth. But it was gone again when the youkai spoke again.

"Sanzo-sama, would you like to explain why you think I should stop my reading?"

"…" Hakkai sighed, Sanzo couldn't distinguish if it was out of relief or was he even more annoyed.

"Then I guess I'll just get back to it, ne? Since you won't answer anyway." That was all he needed. Before Hakkai could even read the first word on the page, Sanzo had launched himself at him.

Hakkai gasped in surprise as the blonde quickly got a hold of his book and threw it across the room. "Sanzo!" He protested angrily, but he wasn't given any more chance to retort when Sanzo held both his wrists and pinned them above him, while straddling his hips in the process.

A few moments passed with only their labored breathing breaking the silence. Hakkai looked up at Sanzo, the blonde had his eyes closed as he breathed. The brunette finally noticed their compromising position and he felt a blush creeping up his neck.

"Sanzo…"

Sanzo slowly opened his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering gently, and his face full of guilt. And Hakkai had never seen anything so beautiful before.

"Why are you so angry?"

The silence that followed was heavy with tension; all the while Hakkai stared solemnly into Sanzo's eyes, searching the amethyst abyss for his answer. Sanzo uttered something that the brunette couldn't quite make out. "What was that, Sanzo?"

He muttered again, and Hakkai began to get irritated. "You'll have to speak up, Sanzo-sama." He stated firmly.

"I'm angry because you've been reading all day long that you haven't noticed us at all. You ignore everything and haven't even tried to calm the two idiots when they fight! You're beginning to get on my nerves and I hate the way you're acting so innocent when it's obvious that you're not paying attention!" Hakkai marveled at the way that Sanzo spoke so many words in one breathe so quickly. He chuckled and smiled up at the blonde.

"Is that all?" Hakkai spoke quietly. He didn't want to scare Sanzo away, but he needed to know how the monk felt. They were on the verge of something that could either destroy their delicate friendship or make way for the happiness that they've been waiting for such a long time.

Sanzo looked at him as if he were crazy, but still unable to keep the way he felt any longer. He took in a deep breath and leaned his forehead against Hakkai's, their opposite-colored hair clashing against each other.  "I was jealous of your book."

If possible, Hakkai's smile grew wider. Sanzo's grip on his wrists loosened and he brought his hands to Sanzo's cheeks, caressing them gently. He was rewarded with a small smile from the blonde and as ridiculous as it sounds, his heart felt full and light.

"Then I guess I'll just stop reading, ne?" He was about to run a hand through Sanzo's sun-kissed locks but Sanzo caught his hand and stared accusingly at his bandaged fingers.

"Where the hell did you get all these?"

"Anou… paper cut." [1]

Kissing the bandaged fingers so tenderly, Sanzo looked at Hakkai with an intense look that could smolder coals. "Hn… baka. And I'd bet that it was on the same book." He whispered, leaning in closer.

"Hai… I must've slid my fingers along the pages too fast…" Hakkai replied, their breaths almost mixing together.

"You really are stupid…" Sanzo bit back just before their lips met, and Sanzo succeeded in getting Hakkai to forget about picking up a book or reading anything for a long while.

**Owari**

**[1] **Taken from Fuyu-chan's DJ 'Paper cut'. This DJ was just too cute with a chibi Hakkai and Sanzo living together!

Arigato gozaimas for reading and please review!!


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